The present technology relates to a pneumatic tire including a decorative portion decorated with a reflective material in a tire side wall and a method for manufacturing the same, and more specifically relates to a pneumatic tire that can prevent the reflective material from falling off and can maintain visibility and fashionability based on the reflective material over a long period of time and a method for manufacturing the same.
Proposals concerning a pneumatic tire have been made for the purpose of improving visibility and fashionability by covering an outer surface of a tire (for example, a side wall portion) with a coating material, coloring agent, or the like (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Application Publication No. H7-37713 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (translation of PCT application) No. 2004-526814), and by forming a side wall portion of a tire using a rubber composition that blends phosphors, ultramarine, or the like (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-185528A, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-174639A, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (translation of PCT application) No. 2009-538768).
However, with the method of simply applying a coating material, a coloring agent, or the like on to the outer surface of the tire, there is a problem in that scratches are formed in a colored portion or the colored portion falls off when the tire contacts an object such as a curb or the like.
Meanwhile, with the method of blending phosphors, ultramarine, or the like into the rubber composition constituting the tire, there is a problem in that an effect of improving visibility and fashionability may be insufficient due to the existence of other additives such as carbon black blended into the rubber composition.